The US and China finalized a trade understanding reached last month in Geneva, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, adding that the White House has imminent plans to reach agreements with a set of 10 major trading partners.
The China deal, which Lutnick said had been signed two days ago, codifies the terms laid out in trade talks between Beijing and Washington, including a commitment from China to deliver rare earths used in everything from wind turbines to jet planes.
Prominent donors are gunning to get Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa a job in the Trump Administration in hopes of pushing him out of New York City’s mayoral race, sources told me. The aim is to open up the GOP nomination — and the nearly 30% of the vote someone running in that lane is expected to get — for current mayor Eric Adams.
At present, the mayor is running for re-election as an independent — sandwiched in between Sliwa on the right and Zohran Mamdani on the (ultra-far) left. My sources said Adams, who recently struck a deal with the Trump Administration to clear himself of charges leveled by the DOJ, is open to running as a Republican, but it hinges on a rather complicated chain of events.
Sliwa would have to leave the state to open up the slot, and then Republican borough leaders would need to anoint Adams.
Getting Sliwa a top job in Washington, D.C. would be one way — the only way some sources think — to make sure he leaves the state. My sources believe the scheme wouldn’t come across as undemocratic given that Sliwa was the only choice in the Republican primary.
The 71-year-old ran as the Republican nominee in 2021 and won 27.8% of the vote. That wasn’t enough to win a plurality let alone a majority, but if his supporters were to rally behind Adams in November, it could be enough to keep the mayor in Gracie Mansion.
Of course, it all hinges on President Trump’s willingness to extend an olive branch to Sliwa (and by extension New York City) and Sliwa’s willingness to take it.
“Curtis has to make a decision of conscience. How much does he love his city as opposed to running for office?” longtime Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf, who is vehemently against Mamdani, told me.
Sliwa voted for Trump in 2024, but has previously called him “a screwball and a crackpot.” He also briefly left the Republican party in 2020 and has stated he didn’t vote for Trump in that election.
It is unclear what kind of job could woo Sliwa to Washington. As of now, my sources said he remains hell bent on staying in the race even if it means spoiling it for Adams and ushering in a socialist. (Adams and Sliwa did not respond to requests for comment.)
One other consideration? The 30-year contract Sliwa has with WABC for his radio show.
But WABC owner John Catsimatidis — who owns the radio station through his Red Apple Media — told me that will not be an issue.
“If he was nominated to a great position, how could I hold him back?”
Adams, who saw support among the business community wane as Cuomo appeared poised to nab the Democratic primary, has picked up momentum since Tuesday as business leaders fret Mamdani could win. He’s been working overtime the last few days trying to win back support and is exploring launching additional PACs to raise additional money.
This wouldn’t be the first time a candidate switched his registration to win an election.
Bloomberg left the crowded Democratic field in 2001, nabbed the Republican nomination and went on to win the general election.
Adams has already shown a willingness to engage with Republicans, appearing on “Fox & Friends” earlier this week to express concerns about the possibility of Mamdani winning the primary. He’s also working with the Trump Administration when it comes to letting ICE do its job by arresting illegals in NYC.
Sheinkopf is cautiously optimistic that it could all work for Adams.
“In the last 55 years, only two incumbent first term mayors have been defeated … Abe Beame and David Dinkins and he’s not either,” he told me. “Adams can win by putting together the coalition that elected him last time — the business people and the people who create the jobs.”
Zohran Mamdani, winner of the Democratic Party’s New York City mayoral primary, is overflowing with Marxist ideas of how to govern that are so lousy that it’s hard to believe he got more than his own vote in Tuesday’s election. Each of them is horrendous, from free bus services to rent control to punitive taxes on those who create prosperity, but none are quite so laughable as his proposal to establish a chain of city-run grocery stores.
Mamdani’s campaign literature – overflowing with empty leftist jargon – says if elected he “will create a network of city-owned grocery stores focused on keeping prices low, not making a profit.” The mission “is lower prices, not price gouging.”
In an interview, the socialist Mamdani said he wants “a pilot program of one store in each borough that builds on the feasibility study that was done in Chicago,” which, incidentally, was never released and has been put on a dusty shelf where it will grow moldy.
Apparently not even that city’s Marxist mayor believed he could make the idea work.
It’s nearly impossible to imagine any adult would propose opening government-owned grocery stores. The concept might make for spirited debate in a junior high social studies class. In the real world, though, there are consequences.
“If the city of New York is going socialist, I will definitely close, or sell, or move or franchise the Gristedes locations,” says John Catsimatidis, the CEO of the Gristedes chain, which “has been feeding New Yorkers for over 100 years.”
This should alarm Mamdani. It won’t. He’ll be glad to get rid of a dirty profit-monger who doesn’t belong in his socialist utopia.
Far from New York is Erie, Kansas, which became known as the “small town that saved its only grocery store — by buying it.” The city took over Stub’s Market in early 2021 after learning that it was to close.
But it didn’t go well. The Wall Street Journal reported in October 2023 that it was “losing money almost every month.” City Clerk Jamie Janssen told the Journal that the goal was “to narrow losses to under $100,000 this year.” Losses had reached $132,000 the year before, even though volunteers stock the goods, some of which are donated by local businesses.
Last year, after learning that “owning the store is difficult and costly for the city,” Erie sold the market. If a city of not even 1,000 residents can’t keep a small government-owned store from losing $100,000 a year, what will the losses add up to in New York City?
Mamdani says his stores won’t have “to pay rent or property taxes,” which will therefore “reduce overhead and pass on savings to shoppers.” Yet in Erie, the store “was costing the city quite a bit of money and the city funds,” said Janssen.
“When you’re a municipality and you own a business like that, there’s a lot of overhead,” he said.
Has Mamdani bothered to work out just how his stores would avoid “costing the city quite a bit”? Can he explain how the stores will not have to pay rent when the city already leases tens of millions of square feet from private owners who are paid market rates?
Unlikely, on both counts. The 33-year-old is a typical know-it-all who actually knows nothing. His real-world experience is less than that of typical high school student from flyover country.
“Before being elected to the New York state assembly in 2020, Mamdani only managed to string together three years of employment,” writes the Manhattan Institute’s Rob Henderson in the London Telegraph. “This includes a short-lived rap career and a spell on a film project for his mother,” an acclaimed director.
“He has even joked: ‘You know, nepotism and hard work goes a long way.’”
Beware of the offspring of privilege who want to use the government to magically improve the lives of the lowly and the struggling because they know better. The results are always calamitous.
https://issuesinsights.com/2025/06/26/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-free-grocery-store/
A new weight-loss compound targeting energy expenditure rather than appetite suppression showed early efficacy in a first-in-human study.
The compound, SANA (MVD1; Eolo Pharma), activates creatine-dependent thermogenesis, a novel approach to obesity and metabolic disease compared to appetite suppression, explained Eolo Pharma CEO MarÃa PÃa Garat. “To our knowledge, SANA is the only small molecule in clinical development that targets this mechanism, and we expect growing interest in this pathway as our data progresses.”
SANA has completed phase 1a/b trials, demonstrating safety, tolerability, and early efficacy over 15 days of treatment, she told Medscape Medical News. “If upcoming phase 2 trials replicate these results and support a clear benefit-risk profile, we believe SANA could potentially reach the market within the next 4-5 years, subject to regulatory pathways and ongoing trial outcomes.”
The study was published online in Nature Metabolism.
SANA, a nitroalkene derivative of salicylate, demonstrated efficacy in preclinical models of diet-induced obesity and significantly reduced liver steatosis and insulin resistance by enhancing mitochondrial respiration and increasing creatine-dependent energy expenditure in adipose tissue.
Unlike glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists that are associated with muscle wasting and loss of lean mass, SANA was shown in preclinical models to significantly preserve and at times increase lean muscle mass while reducing fat mass. Specifically, EchoMRI analysis in diet-induced obese mice showed that SANA-treated animals had a greater percentage of lean body mass than control animals, despite substantial fat loss.
Based on the accumulated preclinical evidence indicating that the compound might be a suitable first-in-class drug for treatment of obesity and comorbidities, the researchers embarked on a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled phase 1a/b study.
The trial included a single ascending dose (200-800 mg) cohort of 17 lean volunteers and a multiple ascending dose (200-400 mg) cohort of 24 individuals with obesity. The primary endpoint was safety and tolerability. Secondary and exploratory endpoints included pharmacokinetics, tolerability, body weight, and metabolic markers.
SANA was shown to be safe and well tolerated at all dose levels, with no serious adverse events reported. In the Phase 1b portion, patients receiving the drug experienced a significant reduction in body weight compared to placebo, along with improvements in fasting glucose and insulin resistance as measured by HOMA-IR. The metabolic improvements were observed after 2 weeks of treatment and occurred without any significant changes in diet or activity levels.
“SANA introduces a novel and potentially complementary therapeutic approach to obesity and metabolic disease — one that doesn’t rely on appetite suppression but instead taps into a previously underutilized biological mechanism, namely, creatine-driven thermogenesis,” Garat said. “It may also offer an alternative for patients who cannot tolerate GLP-1 therapies or who experience undesirable side effects.
Additionally, its oral or subcutaneous dosing flexibility could support patient adherence in real-world settings.”
That said, she added, “As with any first-in-human compound, long-term safety, especially with chronic use, will need to be carefully monitored.”
The study had limitations. Although the human results support the notion that SANA may be effective in humans, the trial was designed to test safety and tolerability. “The efficacy of SANA in humans needs to be further studied in a phase 2 clinical trial, with longer treatment, increased sample number, and extended measurements to validate its efficacy and mechanism of action,” the authors wrote. “As such, the efficacy results presented here, although promising, are still preliminary and subject to further validation.”
The authors had various forms of funding, as detailed in the paper. Multiple authors declared holding shares in Eolo USA and/or serving as advisors to the company.
Although people should have the right to eat soda, candy, and other less nutritious foods, the federal government shouldn't be subsidizing it, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday at an event in Oklahoma.
"We are poisoning the American people," Kennedy said at the event at the Oklahoma State Capitol Building in Oklahoma City. "It's time now for us to take personal responsibility for our own health and [elect] leaders like [Oklahoma Governor Kevin] Stitt [R], who will change the way that we do things in this country to give American kids a better chance of growing up healthy."
Kennedy said that when he was a child, "we had the healthiest children in the world, and today we have the sickest children. When I was a boy, when my uncle was president, I was a 10-year-old boy, and we had 3% of Americans with chronic disease at that point. Today, 60% have chronic disease. The obesity rate was 3% in the United States, and today it's about 50%."
In 1960, when Kennedy was a 6-year-old child, the life expectancy for Americans was nearly 10 years less than it is today, and the infant mortality rate was approximately five times higher.
"Oklahoma is 47th in health in the United States and that's not a good thing," Kennedy added. "I'm hoping that when Gov. Stitt leaves office, Oklahoma will be doing much better."
Stitt announced that Oklahoma is applying to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for a waiver to allow the state not to pay for sodas, candy, or confectionery items for Oklahomans enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), "so our tax dollars are not going to continue to fund foods that are making people sick."
"This waiver [application] is on [Agriculture Secretary Brooke] Rollins' desk right now," he said. "We're also going to work with USDA to find ways to promote healthy eating on SNAP benefits and cause those dollars to go further ... Eating healthy foods today is going to reduce healthcare spending and dietary-related illnesses later on in life."
Kennedy expressed similar sentiments. "With the SNAP waivers, people say, 'Aren't you being a nanny state? Aren't you taking soda drinks, sugary drinks, and candy and confectionery products away from the American people?'" he said. "And my answer to that is, if you want to drink a bottle of soda, you should be able to have that right. We live in a country where we have individual freedom. But the federal government should not be paying for it with taxpayer money."
Kennedy said that the federal government is paying for the chronic disease epidemic in two ways -- "We're paying for [it] at the front end by buying soda for the poorest Americans, and then we're paying for [it] in the back end with this diabetes epidemic, through Medicaid and Medicare. And it doesn't make any sense."
In addition to making the SNAP waiver announcement, Stitt also signed an executive order instructing the Oklahoma Department of Health to stop recommending water fluoridation. "Cities and water districts, they can still choose to do what they want based on their constituents and the science, but it's no longer going to be a recommendation from the state health department," he said. Florida and Utah recently banned fluoridation of water in their states, and other states are considering similar measures.
Stitt said he was also instructing all state agencies that provide meals to Oklahomans -- including in public schools and in prisons -- to discontinue using foods containing artificial dyes. Oklahoma joins West Virginia, whose legislature passed a similar ban in March; the FDA also announced in April that it would work with food manufacturers to get petroleum-based dyes removed from foods distributed throughout the U.S.
Kennedy applauded the move. "I talked yesterday in Washington, D.C. to corrections officials from all over the country," he said. "And before I went in there to give that talk, I looked at some of the data." Kennedy said that from a Google search he found over a dozen studies showing that when prison food was improved, "violence goes down by 38%, assaults go down by 85%, and suicides in one juvenile facility went down 100% ... This food is poisoning not only our [physical] health, but our mental health as well. We need to start giving better food to our children in our schools and give them a chance."
Stitt also announced that the state would convene an advisory council "to study and recommend other changes to improve health outcomes across the state of Oklahoma. "We have the opportunity now to encourage Oklahomans to make more healthy choices and we're going to be doing other things this summer to promote fitness and wellness," he said. "You know how much I love gardening, so we may do a little gardening contest as well ... We just want to continue to promote health and wellness in the state of Oklahoma."
https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/healthpolicy/116273
Energy Secretary Chris Wright warns that the U.S. power grid is nearing its capacity limit, as his department urgently works to avert a potential crisis.
This week, the Energy Department issued an emergency order to counter a Southeast heatwave threatening grid stability and blackouts, authorizing full operation of specific electric generating units.
"In my department, we've issued four emergency orders just in the last few weeks to stop the closure of reliable plants, so we can keep the lights on and stop pushing up electricity prices,” Wright said in an interview Thursday with Fox News.
"We were on a course that was a train wreck,” the Trump official warned. "We're doing everything possible now to sweep out the nonsense.”
Wright blamed Biden-era regulations, specifically emission regulation, for that power grid being on the brink of failure.
"We had to issue an emergency order a few days ago just to let utilities in the Southeast run their plants at full capacity so they could keep the lights on. Under the Biden laws, that's illegal," Wright said. "Emissions rules would have prevented them from producing all the electricity they could, and they would have had rolling brownouts. That's just total nonsense.”
U.S. electricity demand is projected to surge 16% over the next five years, three times the growth predicted just last year, according to the White House. In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to bolster the reliability and security of the grid.
"We need to make changes rapidly. We need to see new capacity built, smarter regulation, we need to use our grid wiser. There's so many things we need to do to improve it. We can't do it all overnight," Wright cautioned.
Trump was elected to bring back 'common sense' on energy: Secretary Chris Wright pic.twitter.com/EqZcmknpRc
— Mornings with Maria (@MorningsMaria) June 26, 2025
"I can assure you, the team at [the] Department of Energy and across this administration are 24/7, seven days a week, working to get out the morass, the nonsense that got put in,” he added. "Free American energy production, and bring jobs back here. We want a shortage of electricity and plumbers and all that, that pushes wages up and that gives great job opportunities for all those hard-working Americans.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum declared in May that the U.S. is on the brink of crippling blackouts, much like those that paralyzed Spain, thanks to reckless over-subsidization of unreliable renewable energy sources.
Burgum attributed Spain’s grid collapse to its heavy reliance on unreliable wind and solar power, declaring, “It just defies physics. You can't run an electrical grid with just intermittent power. You cannot run with something that is based on intermittent, which is the definition of solar or wind, because the sun doesn't shine at night, and the wind doesn't blow every day.”
Burgum didn’t mince words, warning that America is barreling toward the same disaster. “We became dangerously close to that right now. We've got parts of our country that are at risk for those same kind of—what I'll call the Biden brownouts and blackouts—to happen,” the Trump official told Friedberg.
Burgum also blasted the administration’s obsession with over-subsidizing flaky renewable energy while slapping punishing regulations on dependable coal and nuclear power. Burgum argued these misguided moves, all in the name of “saving the planet,” are recklessly jeopardizing America’s energy security. “All we're doing is potentially putting our own country at risk,” he stressed, calling for an immediate pivot to secure a robust grid to fuel the Trump administration’s economic goals—especially as China races ahead with its aggressive energy expansion.
